Everyday Joys: Lucas is 13 Months

I had debated whether I was going to continue doing these updates after Lucas turned a year old, but then I realized I want to document as much about his life as I can, even if its just little snippets every month as a reminder of what new things he's accomplished, and to look back one day and read about it. Obviously I'm a little behind, since it sometimes takes me a while to make a decision lol. Lucas turned 13 months last Monday!, but here are some of his details.

Sleep: He is officially down to one nap! I really struggled and hesitated with this decision, but he started fussing a lot at his morning nap, and then if he did fall asleep it would be for an hour maybe an hour and half, and then he would refuse his afternoon nap, and in turn would be a cranky mess in the evening. So after speaking to my sister about things she did when my niece dropped her morning naps, we kept Lucas occupied and busy as much as we could, and would out him down at 12 and increased this every 15 minutes every few days until he was going down for his nap at 1. It was dicey there for a while, and in the beginning I was home bound a lot in fear that he would fall asleep in the car and mess up the routine. But after two weeks he goes down for his nap and 1 and sleeps for at least two hours, sometimes three! In the beginning when he started sleeping better naps I didn't even know what to do with such a big time to myself, now I love it hehe. His bedtime is still at 8, although, if he does have a longer nap, its a little easier to stretch half an hour without him fussing. He sleeps until 6:30-7, until recently since he's teething but that's a whole other issue.

Eat: Lucas continues to not be a picky eater although he knows what he likes, and know how to ask for it. Namely as long as he has meat at dinner he's a happy camper! He tried peanut butter for this time this month, just a small dabble on his afternoon banana, and not only did he like it, thankfully no allergic reactions. With his new schedule lunch is kind of a hit and miss, but he has such big and healthy breakfasts and dinners that I don't worry too much. He still loves his milk, and is drinking 3 8oz bottles a day no problem. I have slowly introduced him to his own spoon and fork to foster more self feeding, but he still prefers his fingers.

Skills: Lucas is officially a runner, which means by nap time I am one tired mama myself. His new speeds are fast or faster, but I must admit that I love watching him run around as his cute little legs flap up and down, and his arms sway all around him in excitement. Lucas added stairs, lights, woof woof, all done, love you, beijinho (kisses in Portuguese) to his vocabulary this month as well. His understanding of words though is amazing, he gets it when we tell him to pick something up and bring it to us, he knows what to do when we tell him to come with us, or to head to a certain room in the house.
He loves to sort and fill bins right now, I usually take this time to point out shapes, new words and colours when we are doing these sort of activities, hopefully next month there will be new words added to his vocabulary because of this. He still loves books, but now he will pick a book out and bring it to us to be read, or shut a book closed if he doesn't not want that particular book, he definitely has a mind of his own.

Personality: Wow I don't even know where to start with this one. He is so playful, and is really understanding the concept of eliciting laughs from us which he loves to do. He adores music, and now he dances for you, as if feeding off the audience. He is still my little social butterfly, and excels in situations with other children, and other people in general. He cannot walk pass someone without smiling and waving hello to them, and it warms my heart to see how it makes people smile to see him so happy. He definitely has a temper, but that was to be expected with his heritage, and boy will he stomp his feet, and grunt when he isn't getting his way; he will go from zero to ten in the blink of an eye! He is more cuddly this month, and often will run to me and just lay against my chest for snuggles, which of course is something I cherish and treasure, who knows how long that's going to last.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the past month.